The present invention relates to a claw hammer head and, more specifically, an improved claw hammer head having a high brow and multi-radiused claw with tapered, pointed claw tips and a very sharp V slot.
In order to keep the terminology that is used in this patent clear, the following definitions are used throughout the specification and claims:
The Head is defined as the object attached to the end of the handle, used to strike the nail. The Face is defined as the surface of the xe2x80x9cheadxe2x80x9d traditionally used to strike the nail. The Body is defined as the main portion of metal on which the rest of the hammer is formed. The Neck is defined as the part of the head between the face and the body. The Socket is defined as the longitudinal hole in the body material in which the end of the handle is inserted and fixed in the usual manner by one or more wedges. The Side-hitter is defined as the xe2x80x9cfacexe2x80x9d on the side of the body used for hitting nails in tight places. The Claw is defined as the part of the head used to remove a nail from wood. The Slot is defined as the area in the claw in which the shank of the nail is gripped to remove the nail from the wood. The Rocker is defined as the longitudinal curvature of the surface of the claw that bears against the wood. The Roll is defined as the lateral curvature of the surface of the claw that bears against the wood. The Brow is defined as the top of the body including the socket adjoining the rocker. The Pocket is defined as the area of the head between the interior surface of the claw and rear face of the body of the head. The Cup is defined as a small indentation on the rear surface of the body at a position roughly in line with a initial opening of the slot or throat adjacent the tips of the claw. Spiking is defined as the act of starting a nail in the wood, using only the hammer head to hold the nail.
Claw hammer heads have been long known in the art. Generally, the heads have a low brow with a uniform radius curved claw on one side and a short neck with flat face on the other side. These conventional hammer heads, with a low brow (from top to top edge of face being on the order of xc2xc to {fraction (5/16)}xe2x80x3) is designed to pull 1 xc2xdxe2x80x3 nails. Additionally, with conventional hammer heads having a low brow, at close to limit of travel during nail pull rotation, the top edge of the face can and often does contact the wood, (dents and dings) which is especially undesirable if doing finishing work in expensive hard woods. The claw generally has square end, blunt, chisel-like tips and a relatively broad V slot for pulling nails. The neck of a conventional hammer head is only about 1 xc2xexe2x80x3. The face is flat and parallel with the centerline of the handle of the hammer.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a claw hammer especially suitable for easily pulling long nails with much less pulling power.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a claw hammer better adapted for pulling small head finishing nails and even xe2x80x9cheadlessxe2x80x9d nails.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a claw hammer with the ability to remove embedded nails with the specially designed claw.
It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide a claw hammer better adapted for spiking.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a claw hammer head that enables a user to more easily spike a conventional nail in a workpiece.
The high-brow head combined with a progressive radius claw curve reduces the force needed to only a few pounds over the entire arc of nail pulling rotation. The claw tips are pointed, enabling the claw to dig under nail heads that are below the wood surface. The claw has a very sharp V throat which can dig right into the shank of the nail, for pulling out a nail with an additional leverage or for spiking. The wedging effect in the slot keeps the nail from moving sideways while the contoured cup holds the head of the nail securely to prevent turning of the nail about the pivot at the slot.